As you see from these examples, which word to use in French depends on the gender of the
noun. Unlike English, French doesn't tend to make a distinction between 'near' and
'far' (this vs that in English): the words ce and cette
generally cover both meanings. (See the next page for information on how to
distinguish between this and that in French.)

Words that use l'

Before words beginning with a vowel, l' is used instead of le or la (the water = l'eau, not la eau). The word for this/that for such words is: